Te Kāhui (the assembly) Atua (gods / spiritual beings)

Tīpuna (ancestors) · Te aroha (love / compassion) mau tonu, te oro o te kōauau (small flute), ngā puna wera

Hinemoa rāua ko Tūtānekai

Say it: HEE-neh-MOH-ah RAH-oo-ah koh TOO-tah-neh-kai

A high-born woman kept from the man she loved by her own people, and the flute player on an island who called her anyway. Hinemoa is what love does when it is told to wait.

Te Kāwai (Line of descent)

Te Kore → Te ira tangata → Hinemoa rāua ko Tūtānekai

Te Kōrero (the story)

Tūtānekai lived on Mokoia island in the middle of Lake Rotorua and played his kōauau at night, the sound carrying across the water to Ōwhata where Hinemoa lived. Their families judged the match unsuitable, and hers beached every canoe so she could not cross. Hinemoa refused to accept the distance. She tied empty gourds to her body for buoyancy and swam the length of the lake in the dark, guided only by the sound of his flute. She reached Mokoia exhausted and cold, and warmed herself in a hot pool at the island's edge before Tūtānekai's people found her and brought them together. The pool is still known as Hinemoa's Pool, and the story is told wherever people need to be reminded that closeness is sometimes something you make yourself.

Te Whakapapa (the genealogy)

Hinemoa of Ōwhata and Tūtānekai of Mokoia, of the Te Arawa people around Rotorua, joined against the wishes of their families by her own effort rather than arrangement.

Ngā Mana (domains and influence)

Aroha that outlasts obstaclesMusic travelling across distanceWarm springs and poolsEffort made rather than waited for

Kei Kōnei Rātou (they are present here)

A flute, guitar or song heard faintly from across water.
Steam rising off a warm pool at night.
Someone going out of their way, literally, for someone they love.
Lake Rotorua at dusk, still and carrying sound further than it should.

Ngā Huarahi Hono (ways to connect)

You are waiting to be chosen or fetched

Consider making the crossing yourself, the way she did, rather than waiting for permission.

Hearing music carry across water or distance at night

Stop and listen properly before it fades.

At a warm pool or spring

Sit a while rather than rushing through it — it is where a very long swim finally ended.

A Common Misunderstanding

This profile holds one telling of Hinemoa rāua ko Tūtānekai. Pūrākau and whakapapa can differ between iwi and whānau, so it should not be read as the only account.

Ngā Uara (values)

Determined

A quality carried in the kōrero of Hinemoa rāua ko Tūtānekai.

Unashamed of loving first

A quality carried in the kōrero of Hinemoa rāua ko Tūtānekai.

Resourceful

A quality carried in the kōrero of Hinemoa rāua ko Tūtānekai.

Warm

A quality carried in the kōrero of Hinemoa rāua ko Tūtānekai.

Ngā Pūrākau (the traditional stories)

Told in full, the way they would be shared out loud. Versions differ between iwi (tribe), hapū (sub-tribe) and whānau (family).

Te kōauau i te pō — the flute across the water

Two young people at Rotorua who were not allowed to be together, and the sound that reached her anyway.

About 5 min read

Ngā waka i toia — the canoes pulled up to stop her

Why every boat at Ōwhata was hauled beyond her reach, and what that decision actually forced.

About 4 min read

Te kau ki Mokoia — the swim with the gourds

How Hinemoa crossed Lake Rotorua in the dark with nothing but two hue and the sound of a flute to steer by.

About 4 min read

Waikimihia — desire, courage and being met

What happened once Hinemoa reached the warm pool on Mokoia, and how Tūtānekai found her there.

About 4 min read